Printing machine



PRINTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 1, 1932 Patented Sept. 3, 1935 UNITED STATES PRINTING MACHINE Germany, a :firm

Application September 1, 1932,Serial No. 631,401

In Germany April '1, 1932" 5 Claims.

In present printing machines it is customary to provide the impression bed plate or work support with registering stops against which the sheets to be printed are placed in order that the im- 5 pression may appear in its correct position, for example, within a. predetermined impression space. If sheets of different sizes are to be printed in which the impression spaces have a variable distance from the edges of the sheet an approe l priately large number of such stops must be provided for. With such an arrangement material difiiculties are encountered in endeavouring quickly to locate the requisite stops. In the case of twenty or more different sheet sizes it will gen- 15 erally be impossible to efiect the manipulation withouta particular index or key enabling the requisite stops to be readily selected. Even ,so, however, mistakes are still liable to occur and the insertion of the sheet becomes very laborious. 20 According to the invention described in my prior Patent No. 1,950,373 provision is made of an arrangement for registering, in accurate printing position, the sheet to be printed, comprising means for defining by luminous rays the impres- 25 sion space of the printing forme on the impression bed plate of the machine or on a sheet placed thereon so that irrespective of the size of the sheet the said defined impression space can readily be registered with the predetermined impres- 30 sion space of the sheet.

My present invention comprises a further development of my prior invention with a view of avoiding certain difiiculties in cases where an illumination from above is undesirable or imprac- 35 ticable and where the use of large transparent or translucid platen covers is also undesirable because of the danger of cracking. This result I obtain, broadly speaking, by indicating or illuminating not the whole printing area, but only 40 its edges or part of the edges. The slots or apertures required in the bed plate may be very narrow, occupying only a fraction of the impression area while leaving its main portion substantially unperforated; or else the apertures may be located outside the impression area of the bed plate. With such an arrangement the bed plate may readily be constructed to resist the highest impression pressures occurring in practice.

A plurality of embodiments of the invention 50 are shown in the drawing in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 show in sectional elevation and plan view respectively one embodiment of the present invention wherein the impression space on the machine bed is outlined by luminous rays passing through apertures disposed in the bed plateand emanating from a source of light positioned under the bed plate.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate further means according to this invention for visually locating the position of the printingspace. 5

According to Figs. 1 and 2 the edges of. the impression space I) for the types con the printing forme d are defined on the bed plate a by means of slotted apertures e, 0' formed in thebed plate a and illuminated by a glow lamp 1 which is disl0 posed'under the bed plate. The luminous rays from this lamp 1 pass through the apertures. e and e' and also through a sheet of paper or like material covering the apertures, if the paper is not unduly thick. The impression space, consequently, can be brought into precise register with any required part of the sheet laid on the impression bedsimply by adjusting the sheet according to the illuminated border lines.

Thus the predetermined impression spaces of printed forms .or the like can readily be registered with the impression space defined on the impression bed plate. As the slots e, e' occupy onlya small fraction of the impression area on the bed plate a, the latter remains strong enough to resist considerable pressure.

As indicated in Figs. 3 and 4 the impression space b may also be defined by means of illuminated corner spots 9, Fig. 3, or angle lays h, Fig. 4, instead of using the full length border lines e, e. In many cases, if desired, one of the lays h could be dispensed with since the sheets can satisfactorily be located by means of one angle only, since if the corresponding corner of the impression space is placed into the remaining lay h the type impressions will invariably be positioned in the appropriate impression space.

Obviously, when the impression space is defined merely by bordering apertures as described in reference to Figs. 1 to 4, it is not necessary to cover the apertures with a transparent plate or impression support so that the luminous rays strike the under-surface of the sheet directly and therefore penetrate the latter to the greatest extent possible, and that any danger of cracking or damaging transparent cover material is systematically obviated even when using extremely high impression pressures.

In the above described embodiments it has been assumed that only one impression space is to be located on the impression bed plate. It is, however, also possible that two or more impressions may be required on adjacent impression spaces of the same sheet or that consecutive impressions should be placed upon difierently located spaces of consecutive sheets. In such a case, to indicate the various impression spaces use may be made simultaneously of two or more of the above described sheet locating arrangements so as to avoid confusion and easily distinguish the corresponding spaces of the various impressions.

Should the pro-printed impression space on the sheet be very small and it is important that the impressions be absolutely and finely registered therein when, for example, various additional impressions are to be made on the same sheetfurther apertures illuminated from below and forming auxiliary marking spots or index points 0, '0 (Figs. 1 and 2) to aid the delicate adjustment of the impression space may be arranged beyond the extent of said impression space in the manner indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. Any horizontal or vertical preprinted lines on the paper can then readily be positioned parallel to the illuminated lines of the points 12,10.

If desired marking spots or lines or index points 12, '0' may be indicated in any other way for instance by. any other optic arrangement, by rigid strikings or rigid parts arranged above the surface of the bed plate wand almost in contact therewith.

In the above descriptionuse has been made of the word forme to describe the means for impressing the sheets but obviously such means may comprise not only type matter but also printingplates or the like of any description.

What I claim is:-

1. In a printing machine in combination an impression bed plate ready to receive a variety of sheets of different sizes, a printing head including a printing forme arranged to. cooperate with said bed plate, at least one aperture in said bed plate located to indicate only edges of the immediate impression space while leaving the main portion ,of the impression area unperforated, and a source of light arranged beneath said aperture.

2. In a printing machine in combination an impression bed plate ready to receive a variety of sheets of difierent sizes, a printing head including a printing forme arranged to cooperate with said bed plate, a plurality of apertures in said bed plate located to indicate only edges of the immediate impression space, and a source of light arranged beneath said apertures.

3. In a printing machine in combination an impression bed plate ready to receive a variety of sheets of different sizes, a printing head includinga printing forme arranged to cooperate with said bed plate, at least one aperture in said bed plate not even partly coinciding with the immediate impression area, but located to indicate edges-of said area, and a source of light arranged beneath said aperture.

4. In a printing machine in combination an impression bed plate ready to receive a variety of sheets of different sizes, a printing head including a printing forme arranged-to cooperate with said bedplate, at least one aperture in said bed plate located to'indicate only edges of the immediate impression space While leaving the main portion of the impression area unperforated, a source of light arranged beneath said aperture, and further apertures in said bed plate illuminated from below and arranged outside the impression area to serve as auxiliary marking spots for the delicate adjustment of the sheet.

5. In a printing machine in combination an impression bed plate ready to receive a'variety of sheets of different'sizes, a printing head including a printing forme arranged to cooperate with saidbed plate, a plurality of apertures in said bed plate located to indicate only edges of the immediate impression space whileleaving the main portion of the impression area unperforated, and a sourceof light arranged beneath said aperture.

WILI-IELM DEPENBROCK 

